Amazon to show 20 Premier League matches a season from 2019

Amazon Prime Video will officially stream 20 Premier League matches live every season from 2019, in a groundbreaking new deal.

The Premier League has been selling its live broadcasting rights for 200 live matches to broadcasters in the UK and Ireland for several months. The competitive process can take months, as bids are made and rejected, with Sky Sports and BT Sports traditionally dominating the final line-up. In February, five of the Premier League’s seven packages were snapped up, with Sky nabbing three (for 128 matches) and BT bagging one package (for 32 matches).

Now, the remaining two packages have been sold – and, after speculation that Amazon was eyeing up the rights to several matches, the online giant has officially stormed the pitch to claim 20 matches per season, from 2019/2020 to 2021/22.

This is the first time a streaming service has bought the rights to show live football match in the UK and Ireland. Its 20 games will come from one Bank Holiday and one midweek fixture programme. Amazon will also have the rights to near-live re-broadcast of games, and the rights to goal highlights.

“We are extremely pleased that Sky Sports, BT Sport and Amazon have invested in these rights and all view the Premier League and our clubs as vital parts of their live sports offerings,” says Premier League Executive Chairman Richard Scudamore.

“We welcome Amazon as an exciting new partner and we know Prime Video will provide an excellent service on which fans can consume the Premier League,” Scudamore adds.

BT Sport bought the final package, covering 15 matches from two midweek fixture programmes and five matches from the split weekend.

“The interest in our UK rights is testament to the fantastic competition delivered by our clubs,” continues Scudamore. “This outcome will support their continued efforts to put on the best possible football and use their popularity and reach to have a positive impact on the sport and beyond.”

To watch these games, football fans will need to sign up to Amazon Prime, a membership scheme that costs £79 a year, or £7.99 a month. Alternatively, a standalone subscription to Amazon Prime Video costs £5.99 a month, with no contract.

Sky and BT Sport stay top of football TV rights as the Premier League shoots for Amazon

18th February 2018

Sky and BT Sport remain top of the football TV rights competition in the UK, but the Premier League may be shooting for Amazon with two new packs left to sell.

The bidding, which is conducted privately in writing and spanned the last week, has seen both pay-TV broadcasters retain their hold on the competitive rights to screen Premier League matches live on TV. Combined, their spending has reached £4.464 billion for the rights from 2019 to 2022, down from the record £5.1 billion spent for the rights in the last auction.

That includes Sky’s £3.579 billion deal to keep its dominance on the TV pitch, down from the £4.1 billion it previously paid to keep BT Sport from muscling in on its territory. That deal, though, gives it rights to 128 matches, up two from last time round – and, crucially, includes the “first pick” matches each weekend, giving it the best fixtures, screening at 5.30pm and 7.45pm on Saturdays, and 2pm and 4.30pm on Sundays. Sky also has the rights to Monday and Friday night matches.

BT Sport, meanwhile, has stepped down its competition slightly, after spending big to break into the market monopolised by Sky – a rivalry that previously drove the bidding to all-time highs. BT, though, is content to remain in second place, having won over some football fans (at great cost) and struck a deal with Sky to offer its broadcast packages through the rival platform. After previously splashing £960 million, BT spent just £885 million for 32 matches – 10 fewer than before, all kicking off at 12.30pm on Saturdays, and all consisting of second pick or fifth pick games. BT, instead, will be banking on its rights to the Champions League (£1.2 billion for the 2018-21 season) to help sell its pay-TV service.

If that sounds like business as usual, though, there are still two of the seven available packages left to be bought up – and the Premier League is trying something a little different in an attempt to spark interest from streaming companies, such as Facebook, Twitter or Amazon. Those packages consist of 20 matches each, one comprising midweek fixtures and the other Bank Holiday fixtures plus a midweek fixture. BT has reportedly said that it remains interested in those packages, but The Guardian notes that Amazon has also lodged bigs for the rights to simulcast the games in at least one of those packages. However, the reserve price for the packages has not yet been met, which means that the bidding will continue.

The problem with the packages are that they only offer content on a long-term basis, rather than a weekly schedule to entice and retain subscribers. The Premier League is therefore moving to bump up the attractiveness of these by adding near-live re-broadcast of games into the mix, plus the rights to goal clips – both of which would be suited to a social network, online catch-up or live-streaming platform (The Daily Mail notes that the matches would not have to be broadcast or streamed live).

With Sky already owning 128 matches, and no one broadcaster allowed to own more than 148, a super-pack combining all 40 games would leave the pay-TV giant out of the final shopping spree. With overseas rights still on the table, and the rights in China reportedly already sold for much more than the previous amount, the Premier League seems confident that it can make up for the dip in domestic spending with international deals. As for UK rights, with Amazon recently snapping up the rights to ATP tennis and lining up a documentary behind-the-scenes at Manchester City, the ball is in the online company’s half.

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